Talk:Parasitic being
Removed I removed the following information: :"The Invisibles", an episode of the 1960 science fiction anthology series ''The Outer Limits, also featured intelligent parasitic alien creatures who took over government leaders and used them as Human hosts. Both the storyline and the creatures' physical appearance bear some resemblance to the TNG episode.'' This was added as background info. I feel it just isn't needed for the purposes of this article, especially since there are many science fiction episodes and movies which have a plot that bears some similarity to this one. --From Andoria with Love 21:43, 15 Jan 2006 (UTC) Name change This name is not suitable as long as the TNG qualifier is on it, perhaps Neural parasite (24th century) would be better? --Alan del Beccio 07:07, 27 January 2006 (UTC) :Disambiguation between the three known examples of neural parasites should use their location (or source if available) as qualifier; thus, "Neural parasite (Xindi-Reptilian)," "Neural parasite (Denevan)," and, for want of a better wording, "Neural parasite (unidentified)." It may sound bad for the third one, but it works, insomuch as Data stated that the beacon transmitted "toward an unexplored part of our galaxy." As the statement is not made that it would necessarily stop at any given location, it could be (and is referenced in several works as being) indicative of an extragalactic origin. Granted, this contradicts non-canon books such as Unity, but The Lives of Dax has a rather haunting story of one of the Dax's, along with Captain Christopher Pike, encountering one of these creatures on a frozen wasteland planet, and the Trill not knowing what they are at all. In any case, the case is easily made that the origin of the parasites is truly unsolved so far, and thus legitimately called such. --ChrisK 12:23, 7 April 2006 (UTC) Bluegill When was this name ever mentioned in canon? --Kevin W.•Talk to me 21:27, February 1, 2010 (UTC) :It wasn't. It's from the CCG. -- sulfur 21:31, February 1, 2010 (UTC) ::Just watching through "Conspiracy" -- Riker explicitly says "Bluegill" at the very end when discussing it being Dr. Crusher's idea for him to pretend to be infected. Unless this was, like, retconned in with new dialog (Riker's mouth isn't visible, so that's not utterly impossible), it's canon. 07:41, January 22, 2014 (UTC) :::Being retconned into the remastered episode would not preclude its being canon- I will point out that states "blue splinter" so if we are hearing "bluegill" in the episode, it is indeed a retcon addition. 31dot (talk) 11:22, January 22, 2014 (UTC) :::My version of the "Conspiracy" episode is the aforementioned one where Riker clearly refers to them as Bluegill at the end of the episode, it struck me as odd when reading the article that this was missed out, until I read this this discussion. -- 12:55, March 6, 2014 (UTC) It should be noted that script dialog is not the "be all, end all" of proof regarding what was or wasn't said or done in an episode of ANY tv series, especially Star Trek (Shatner's flubs, intentional and otherwise being clear clues to this). It is unlikely that they dubbed in Riker's voice to change such a minor thing; its far more likely that the original was bluegill, and Frakes either flubbed it or changed the wording deliberately. 03:38, June 21, 2016 (UTC) Where in the TNG Companion was this stated? The article currently asserts that "The writers originally intended the parasites to be agents of the Borg. Due to the Writers' Strike of 1988 as well as budget cuts, the connection between the Borg and the parasites was never established. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)" But I checked my copy of the Companion (the second revised edition), the entry on "Conspiracy" didn't mention anything about them being intended as agents of the Borg. Was this somewhere else in the book, and if so where? Or is it possible some editor attributed it to this book based on fuzzy memories, but it wasn't actually stated? Hypnosifl (talk) 16:22, July 26, 2016 (UTC) :I don't have a copy of the Companion on hand at the moment, but it's possible someone may have mis-cited the source, as you suggest. I've added what is noted in the 1996 Chronology in its appendix on planets and societies. It doesn't mention the strike as being specifically the reason the connection was dropped. That bit may come from some other source. I don't know. --Side Rat (talk) 03:17, April 16, 2019 (UTC) :UPDATE: When I went over to add the Chronology note to the Borg article, I found another note suggesting that the effects of the writers' strike on the planned lead-in to them may be further discussed in Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, but I don't own it, so I can't check if the "Conspiracy" connection is specifically mentioned there (it wasn't in the Borg article). Looking at our article for that book, it seems to include some material originally published in Starlog, so that could be another possible source. --Side Rat (talk) 10:11, April 16, 2019 (UTC) Rename suggestion I just watched the non-remastered version of the episode and he clearly says "Bluegill". Furthermore, the term "Neural Parasite" is never used in dialogue, it's always just a parasite which is pretty generic. So I'm putting this up for rename. Kennelly (talk) 16:53, October 30, 2016 (UTC) :Riker says It was Doctor Crusher's idea to simulate the blue gill. He seems to be referring to the organ sticking out of an infected person's neck, rather than the species itself. The Customizable Card Game was the first to use Bluegill as the name of the species. --NetSpiker (talk) 23:58, November 7, 2016 (UTC) ::Oppose a rename to the suggested title. I see the same reason, NetSpiker stated above. Haven't seen the episode lately, though. Tom (talk) 07:19, December 22, 2016 (UTC) :::Yeah, just watched the episode and the quote is what NetSpiker said above. Looks like they didn't get a name. Maybe call it "Unnamed neural parasite"? Thebilldude (talk) 05:48, January 15, 2017 (UTC) :::: I agree this should be renamed, if not just to get rid of the current qualifiers. "Blue gill" was quite obviously a reference the breathing organ, but certainly the Qualifiers of "24th century" and/or "neural" are not fully applicable. Realistically "parasitic being", which was Crusher's generic descriptor, seems to be the best answer. --Alan del Beccio (talk) 14:33, March 16, 2017 (UTC)